…or not as the case may be. Learning how to juggle family, work, friends and me time.

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housework

I was talking to a friend at the weekend who was mortified that he’d put on a load of washing on a Saturday night. I however thought this was a perfectly normal thing to do. I have had so many Friday and Saturday nights in over the last few years if I’m not going to get on top (or at least climb a few feet up) of the mountain if housework to be done then what is there to do?

It was my childfree weekend this weekend and the full spring clean fever kicked in so I have blitzed my living room and dining room (with help from my mother) and I have also taken on the exciting task of defrosting my freezer.

It had got to the point were the doors weren’t shutting and I had to push something in and shut the door in quick succession in case it lept out before the door shut. I also knew there was a bevy of meals I’d bulk cooked and frozen only to find out it didn’t taste that great in the first place that I could definitely get rid of. I also used an amazing tip of using your hairdryer to defrost the ice!

Granted it was like a scene from Ice Age in the back so still took an age but definitely better than endless bowls of hot water and a spatula chipping away whilst kneeling in a ever growing pool of water (tell me it’s not just me!!)

I also asked a question on my personal Facebook page as to whether my ‘friends’ thought I should get a dishwasher or not. And oh my goodness! I never knew my friends cared so much about an electrical appliance!! It was like I’d opened up a debate about capital punishment or breastfeeding in public or parents who don’t vaccinate their kids. Some were pro, some were against, some wrote yes or no, some wrote an essay but bizarrely some were vehemently against…so much so that they started slagging of my real friends who had posted a pro comment. I mean really?

I felt a little bit bad for causing such a drama on a Sunday morning, especially as I’d pretty much decided it was finally time to replace my one which broke and was removed over a year ago. As many of my friends said…life is too short for washing up.

Life is also too short for having Facebook friends who I don’t actually like in person.

Well I got most if the way through my decorating project, although despite being able to move my wardrobe out from the wall (eventually), I can now not move it back. I keep finding spots of paints on my person and feel like I’m high from the fumes when I walk into the room because it’s too cold to have the windows open all the time (stupidly I didn’t choose one of the low fumes brands).

But despite the fact it’s not quite done I’m proud of myself for getting on and doing it. I am one if the biggest procrastinators I know so getting started was a challenge. It is also lovely to have a bedroom that feels like it is mine and has no history. It is fresh and bright which is how I’m starting to feel again.

Obviously, before the painting comes the big sort out has to happen which has been cathartic in itself but I have come across so much stuff that I have no idea what to do with. What is the protocol when it comes to canvases of your wedding pictures that you used to have over your bed? Do you chuck it? Do you hide it away? Do you ask if your ex wants it? All of these options feel weird. It’s not like it’s ever going to be displayed again but tossing it in the trash seems harsh in someway. A photo album of wedding pics can easily be stashed on a book shelf only to be looked at periodically but an A3 size canvas??

I have also come across and amazing selection of crap from under my bed and a wide selection of make up and hair accessories I had forgotten I had! I’m not going to mention the dust behind the bed or someone will dob me into Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and I’ll have some crazy, neurotic bleach freak knocking on my door. Everything in moderation I say…and on that note I think I deserve a glass if wine! Cheers!

Apologies for little hiatus on blogging. I had every intention to carry on regularly but then one of my friends suggested I start watching ‘Orange is the New Black’…and no-one has seen me since! I’ve decided to have a breather between series’ and catch up on current affairs for a bit but OitNB is really good and I would thoroughly recommend it.

Boxsets have, so far, been my saving grace whilst whiling away the evenings wondering what the hell I do with all this quiet time once Charlotte’s (eventually) tucked up in bed and a vague sense of calm has been restored to the house (see previous post about housework!).

It started a couple of weeks into my seperation when my, also newly seperated, friend suggested I started watching Breaking Bad in my bedroom before I killed my parents with whom Charlotte and I stayed for a few weeks. Two months later I came out of my room and wondered what I would do with my life now it had finished! I plodded on with reruns of Modern Family and a few Sex and the City episodes but didn’t want to start another all encompassing boxset quite yet. Until now, obviously! It also means that I have another topic to add to my ‘conversation topics appropriate for first dates’ list which started off quite short, I must admit!

I stupidly mentioned I liked it on Facebook and someone suggested House of Cards so I don’t think I’ll be cancelling my Netflix subscription anytime soon!

Having browsed through my Facebook page today I have a feeling I’m not alone in the toddler vs housework battle but sometimes I feel like I just don’t have the capacity to keep up with it all!

My house is a mess. Not in the ‘excuse the mess’ way that some people say when a cushion is placed slightly wrong on the sofa, but in the ‘a laundry bomb has gone off and then a machine gun loaded with toys and other crap was sprayed around the house just to finish the job’ type way. One of the reasons I split with my husband was because he didn’t want to socialise with any of our friends. Now, however, I have ample opportunity to socialise in my own home but I daren’t invite anyone over because I’m ashamed at the state of my house! Not particularly great for the love life either!

It also seems like no matter how much tidying and cleaning I do, I am only able to have two tidy rooms at any one time! I’m sure I’m not just transporting the mess from one room to another but it must be a law in physics somewhere: two tidy rooms must equal two messy rooms etc etc.

I have actually found myself fantasising about, one day, just moving house and leaving it all behind but would I be better in any other house, who knows!!?? You would never guess, but deep down I’m actually a bit of a perfectionist so unfortunately I just spend my whole life frustrated at myself and the house. There’s a quote that says ‘Tidy house, tidy mind’. Heaven knows why my mind looks like then…although I could hazard a guess!